FCC fines Google for blocking StreetView WiFi investigation

Search giant Google has been fined $25,000 by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for impeding its investigation of the search giant's Street View cars, which inadvertently collected payload data including emails and passwords from unencrypted Wi-Fi networks.

Google's collection of data over Wi-Fi networks through its roving Street View cars first came under fire in Europe. Last March, France's CNIL consumer advocacy commission fined the company 100,000 Euros for the unauthorized collection of data from unencrypted Wi-Fi networks.

"Google persistently failed to provide declarations by individuals with personal knowledge verifying the accuracy and completeness of the company's LOI [Letter of Inquiry] responses," says the FCC. "Google also failed to provide documents and information required by the Bureau's LOI. In several instances, the record reflects that Google's failure to comply with the Commission's directives was deliberate."

The company has said that the collection of such data was inadvertent, the data itself was never used, and that the company has worked with the relevant authorities to dispose of it.

"We worked in good faith to answer the FCC's questions throughout the inquiry, and we are pleased that they have concluded that we complied with the law," Google said in a statement sent to media this weekend concerning the FCC allegations about impeding the commission's investigation.